Specialist Clinical Psychologist Stroke, Band 8b
Join us at an exciting time for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust! We have an ambitious plan for our journey to Outstanding and are looking for aspirational, committed individuals to join us, making a real difference to both staff and patients.
As a former winner of England for excellence award: Tourism destination of the year, the beautiful city of Gloucester and the scenic regency spa town of Cheltenham are fantastic places to work and live.
As a hospital Trust we are currently involved in over 100 clinical trials and studies, whilst also providing acute elective and specialist services to a population of over 620,000.
By joining Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust new colleagues can look forward to a warm welcome and a future full of opportunities and support.
Job overview
An exciting Band 8b opportunity has arisen for a qualified Clinical Psychologist to take a clinical lead for psychology across the stroke pathway in Gloucestershire.
This is a fixed term maternity cover post which will provide clinical input, consultancy and training to the Acute and Hyper Acute Stroke Ward at Cheltenham General Hospital, the Stroke Rehabilitation Unit based at The Vale Community Hospital, Dursley, and the community based Early Supported Discharge Team.This 8b post therefore offers the rare opportunity to develop and oversee the psychological care of stroke patients and their families across all areas of the stroke pathway from hyper acute to community outpatients.
In addition to this post, a further maternity cover position working in Brain Injury and Neurology at the 8a level will also be advertised. If you are interested in applying for both or just one of these positions then please do get in touch or apply directly.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will:Provide oversight, co-ordination, and development of a psychologically informed approach to stroke patient wellbeing across the Gloucestershire Stroke Pathway from Hyper Acute Inpatient right through to Community Early Supported Discharge.
Duties will include:Psychological and neuropsychological assessment and treatment of stroke inpatients in both acute and rehabilitation stroke units and in the community based Early Supported Discharge Team.
Development of training for staff teams across the pathway to enhance the continuity of care and clinical experience for patients.
Interdisciplinary working contributing to a coherent goal-directed rehabilitation service.
Establishing and embedding best patient care initiatives such as specialist group work.
A commitment to the provision of evidence-based health care is essential as is experience in neuropsychological assessment and the ability to assess creatively and functionally. You also require a good understanding of the psychological factors influencing physical health and delivery of health care, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, as well as an appreciation of the need to adjust therapeutic input to take into account the presence of cognitive impairment.Enthusiasm, commitment and an ability to work as part of a team are essential.
Working for our organisation
We can offer you: An autonomous 8b role to cover maternity leave
An innovative, stimulating and well organised environment – part of a well-established Clinical Health Psychology department employing a range of applied psychologists
A friendly and supportive team of colleagues, excellent peer support and regular supervision, with an informal and relaxed atmosphere.
A commitment to the training and support of applied psychologists and active involvement in the local clinical doctoral courses.
Dedicated time within the role for advancing special interests and professional development.
While the post holder will spend time at both Cheltenham General Hospital and The Vale Community Hospital, they will be part of a team of 7 other psychologists delivering a service to neurological rehabilitation in GHNHSFT, a team known for excellent peer support.
This 8b post is supported within the stroke services specifically by a Band 8a Clinical Psychologist and Band 4 Assistant Psychologist.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Overview:We are seeking a skilled and compassionate clinical psychologist to provide senior specialist psychological assessment, including neuropsychological assessment, support, liaison, and staff consultation for stroke patients seen across the stroke pathway in Gloucestershire.
Job purpose:
To provide highly specialist psychology input at an individual and organisational level to patients across the stroke pathway from hyper acute inpatient through to community early supported discharge. The role will support the development of a psychologically informed approach to stroke patient wellbeing.This includes developing and providing specialist interventions at an individual level and consultation for colleagues. Development of staff training across the pathway including skills development in neuropsychology, will be an important part of the role.
The post forms part of the Clinical Health Psychology Department, based at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
Required to act independently and be accountable for own actions within professional guidelines and trust policies.
The post holder will be required to closely liaise with the Stroke Clinical Teams across the different stages of the pathway.
Dimensions Organisation Chart/Accountability:The post holder will be managed within the Clinical Health Psychology Dept and supported by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Service Lead for Stroke. Within the stroke psychology service there is a further Band 8a Clinical Psychologist supporting the acute team and Band 4 assistant support across the pathway.
Knowledge, skills and experience:
Doctoral Degree in Clinical or Counselling Psychology
Registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council
Significant understanding of, and experience with, working with people with physical health issues, including in an acute hospital setting
Significant understanding of, and experience with neuropsychological assessment methods and working with people with cognitive or communication difficulties
Significant understanding of, and experience with, evidence-based psychological models and therapeutic approaches to health and illness, (eg Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Compassion Focussed Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy).
A thorough knowledge of National Stroke Service Model and how it applies to the psychological and neuropsychological care of stroke patients across the pathway
Experience in training other health professionals, including senior colleagues
Experience in supervising psychologists and other health professionals
Evidence of a commitment to continuing professional development
Knowledge of psychometric scale development, use and evaluation within physical health settings and experience in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of audit and clinical data
Knowledge of IT systems for clinical, training, and research purposes including Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint
Knowledge and experience of user involvement and equality of opportunity issues and their relevance to people working within health settings
Experience of the clinical assessment of psychological functioning, cognitive abilities, mental health needs and capacity for therapeutically supported change using a range of strategies including clinical interview, patient reported outcome measures, and evaluation of information from other sources
Skills required
To communicate in a highly sensitive and skilled manner sensitive information to /with patients, family members, staff members and colleagues in a compassionate and effective way, for example where there are high levels of distress, psychological risk, anger, cognitive difficulty, or where barriers to self-care exist.
Ability to undertake detailed and brief neuropsychological assessments, to use the outcome of that assessment to inform patient care, and support / train the wider MDT to do the same
Ability to contain and work therapeutically with people in extreme psychological distress including depressive withdrawal, anger, suicidality, anxiety / panic, loss and bereavement, relationship breakdown
Ability to put psychological theory into practice in novel and complex clinical settings, synthesising data and theory from a range of evidence-based sources to create individual, group, team intervention plans
Ability to deliver training on psychological concepts in clinical settings at a variety of levels to staff and to evaluate / audit training
Ability to evaluate and prioritise competing clinical demands and to use planned and ad hoc supervision as part of coping with these
Mobile to meet the requirements of the post
Initiative and flexibility
Key Result Areas/ Main Duties of Post
The post holder will be required: Clinical, organisational, and leadership
To provide specialist psychological and neuropsychological assessments of patients under the care of the acute and community stroke teams in Gloucestershire based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of complex psychological data from a variety of sources including self-report measures, semi-structured interviews with patients and family members, and neuropsychological testing.
To formulate and implement plans for management of patient’s psychological difficulties in relation to their physical health based on appropriate conceptual framework of the patient’s problems and employing methods of proven efficacy.
To evaluate and make decisions about treatment options taking into account both theoretical and therapeutic models and high complex factors concerning historic and developmental processes that have shaped the individual.
To provide specialist psychological advice, guidance and consultation to other professionals to contribute directly to the patient’s formulation, diagnosis and treatment plan.
To build strong relationships with key stakeholders.
To work independently and use own initiative in the day to day organisation of the role.
To ensure outcome and service data is routinely collected (eg to contribute to SSNAP analysis) to demonstrate the impact of the interventions and to share learnings within and outside of the Trust, e.g. at meetings and conferences.
To participate in service development projects, working closely with the Clinical Health Psychology leads and the other members of the team and to advise the lead of the need for service developments, policy, protocol or guideline developments.
To provide clinical supervision to junior clinical psychology colleagues, assistants, students and trainees.
To be aware of and adhere to Trust and departmental policies and procedures and the professional practices for psychologists at GHNHSFT.
To liaise with other disciplines and agencies working in the specialism to promote effective interventions and ensure best practice.
To agree a job plan and undertake performance review for professional development with Line Manager, implementing the agreed plan for this on an annual cycle or more frequently as required.
Professional
To maintain and further develop high standards of clinical psychology practice through co-operative work with clinical colleagues.
To adhere to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) regulations required as a registered Practitioner Psychologist, and to fully observe the BPS Code of Conduct and the DCP Professional Practice Guidelines
To adhere to any professional guidance from the British Psychological Society, Department of Health, and the Trust, with particular reference to: informed consent, note-taking, confidentiality, information sharing and safeguarding.
To engage with the appraisal process, continuing professional development, essential training and clinical supervision, as required by the Trust and the HCPC.
To attend and actively participate in professional and clinical speciality meetings, and to keep the team updated with key issues, updates, developments, and risks.
To provide cover within Clinical Health Psychology as needed.
To maintain and regularly update practice within the current evidence base.
To undertake applied clinical research and audit programmes, using a range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies with the aim of improving health outcomes of patients.
To be aware of and comply with legislation, guidance and training pertaining to safeguarding and the wellbeing of staff and patient safety.
Use appropriate information technology to support teaching and training.
An important characteristic of the job responsibilities is that the post holder is autonomous and personally accountable for his/her clinical decisions. To this end it is a requirement that the post holder ensures an appropriate level of consultation/supervision is undertaken and that appropriate overall supervision arrangements are made in accordance with professional practice guidelines to support this high level of clinical responsibility.
Additional Contact:
Name: Dr Aileen ThomsonJob Title: Clinical Psychologist
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 03004228523
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Post graduate degree in Clinical Psychology
- Eligible for membership of the BPS Division of Clinical Psychology and for BPS chartered status
- Achieved or working towards QiCN
Experience
Essential criteria- Experience with a variety of clinical assessments and interventions.
- Experience of neuropsychological assessment and interpretation.
- Experience of MDT working
- Experience of neuro-rehabilitation including using neuropsychological assessment therapeutically
- Experience in working in inpatient hospital ward settings
- Experience of stroke inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings
Knowledge and Skills
Essential criteria- Demonstrate excellent communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal and written
- Demonstrate ability to work autonomously
- Ability to supervise other staff
The health and wellbeing of our staff and patients remains the priority of the Trust. Vaccination remains the best chance we have of conquering COVID and the Trust encourages everyone to take up this offer.
Please note, this vacancy may close as soon as sufficient applications have been received, so please apply as soon as possible if you are interested. The Recruitment Team are unable to accept any applications after the position has closed on NHS Jobs.
Committed to safeguarding our community
If applicable for the post, all successful candidates will be required to pay for their own Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The cost will be £29 (standard checks) or £46 (enhanced checks), and will be recovered through two instalments from the candidate's salary.Please contact [email protected] for further information.
The Trust is a safeguarding employer committed to the safeguarding and promotion of welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The Trust is committed to safe recruitment practices to protect children and vulnerable adults, and any appointment will be subject to satisfactory clearance.As part of the organisation's commitment to Safer Recruitment, candidates may request copies of relevant policies and procedures by contacting the Recruitment Team at [email protected]
Committed to supporting service personnel
As part of our commitment to support Service Personnel, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in collaboration with the Career Transition Partnership, offer a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for all qualifying Service and Ex-Service Personnel.To qualify for a guaranteed interview, candidates must meet the essential criteria for the post and be either a current member of the Armed Forces, or be within the two year period of resettlement. If this applies to you please email the job reference number and your AR number to the Recruitment Team at [email protected]
Follow us on Twitter: @GHNHSFTCareers